I get a lot of inspiration from listening to podcasts and reading blogs about women with interesting careers and online businesses. Probably makes sense why I started this blog!
I'm always amazed at all the different things people are doing to earn a living. Careers that are totally non-conventional. It just takes creative thinking and a belief in your idea to make it a reality.
Below are 10 women that stuck out to me as innovative, creative and go-getters. Each of them created an online business that allows them to help others and make a fabulous living.
The women below didn't choose a career, they created one that fits them and their lifestyle.
If creating online business interests you, then pay attention to the common theme with the women listed below. Each of these women are teaching others how to do something. It's all about teaching and helping others.
1. Jennifer Maker - jennifermaker.com
I first discovered Jennifer Maker a couple years ago when I was considering taking Ruth Soukup's Elite Blog Academy. Jennifer was a student in the course and gave a video testimonial about the course. I was immediately loving Jennifer and her brand.
Jennifer uses her blog platform, www.jennifermaker.com to teach people how to craft using tools like a Cricut machine. She makes all kinds of cool things and teaches her readers how to create their own craft projects.
If you think this business doesn't sound lucrative, think again. Jennifer makes 6-figures per month with her crafting blog. She makes her money from her online courses, affiliate marketing and advertising.
It took Jennifer a couple years build up her platform and audience, but it's really paid off. She can listen to her story here.
Have a knack for crafting? There could be an online business in your future.
2. Jennifer Bradley - speechtherapyplans.com
The next Jennifer isn't a crafter, she's a speech therapist and has figured out a way to help her fellow speech therapists, and make money in the process.
Jennifer started her business by selling therapy materials through TeachersPayTeachers.com, an educational platform where teachers sell materials to each other.
Once she saw some success on TPT, she decided to start her own website, www.speechtherapyplans.com. She doesn't just sell lesson plans through, she was savvy and created a membership for speech therapists. This allowed her to provide even more value to her fellow therapists through her own platform and make a more predictable income.
Today, Jennifer has over 1,000 students paying $26 per month (you can do the math!). Check out this great podcast interview with Jennifer to hear how she grew her business.
Do you have a skill that could help your colleagues save time or money?
3. Teresa Perleberg - BearCreekFelting.com
After hearing about Teresa Perleberg and her very niche membership business, I decided that anything is possible online. I adore her business!
Teresa runs bearcreekfelting.com a website that teaches people how to make needle felted animal sculptures. She sells kits with all the supplies you need to create these adorable creations and she runs an academy that teaches you how to do the art of needle felting.
She's bringing in around $250K per year from her farm in North Dakota. Not too shabby!
What do you create that other people might want to learn?
4. Janet LeBlanc - paperandspark.com
Janet LeBlanc is a woman after my own heart. She is a CPA and accounting professional, but got burned out doing accounting for clients. She wanted to do something creative with her number-crunching skills.
So, she did something really smart. She found a way to leverage her accounting skills by creating financial spreadsheets to help Esty sellers with their bookkeeping.
Her spreadsheets help Etsy sellers keep track of their finances without the pain of trying to learn bookkeeping (which is painful for many creative types). She started selling her spreadsheets on Etsy and then opened up her own website, www.paperandspark.com
Such an incredibly smart idea. She was tired of her work, but instead of ditching her skills, she got creative and found a way to leverage them by helping a group of people she loves - creatives selling on Etsy! As a result, she built a 6-figure business.
How can you pivot and/or leverage what you currently do into a lucrative business that gives you more freedom?
5. Anna Runyan - classycareergirl.com
Anna Runyan built her platform, www.classycareergirl.com, into a thriving community of women who are looking for meaningful and fulfilling careers.
Yep, a topic near and dear to my own heart.
Anna started Classy Career Girl back in 2010 and has grown it into a very popular site. She has a team and has made Classy Career Girl her full-time living. She makes money through the sales of her courses. She's also a career coach over at Muse.com.
Could you build a community around a topic near and dear to your heart? I bet you could!
6. Becky Hardin - thecookierookie.com
If you are a cook wannabe, like me, and you love food porn, like me, then check out Becky Hardin's thecookierookie.com.
I don't know how I stumbled upon this website, but I am forever in love with it. Becky is not a professional chef, she is a self-taught cook who didn't pick up a pan until she was 30 years old.
She created The Cookie Rookie to help other newbie cooks learn how to make simple, yet yummy meals. I love that her site is truly eye-candy, yet she's not a "seasoned" cook (see what I did there?).
I emailed Becky once with a blogging question (she doesn't know me at all), and she replied right away. Such a sweet, generous person who has created a HUGE following with her blog! And it's now her full-time living.
What skill are you NEW at that you could use to help others who are even NEWER? Take us along on your journey!
7. Kym Campbell - smartfertilitychoices.com
Kym Campbell was a musician, but after having issues with PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) when trying to get pregnant, she decided to take to the internet to help other women dealing with the same issue.
She launched smartfertilitychoices.com and wrote epic content to help women learn more about PCOS and how they can change their diet and lifestyle to help ease their symptoms.
Once she built a following, she launched a course that walks women through changing their diet and lifestyle so they can overcome PCOS. She's earning over $400K per year helping women. Pretty amazing.
You can hear more about how Kym built her online business on the My Wife Quit Her Business podcast.
What have you experienced in your own life that you can help others overcome?
8. Corina Holden - nowthaticando.com
Corina Holden is the founder of Frump Fighters, a blog that helps moms get out of the "mom frump funk" and dress stylishly.
As a mom of three boys, Corina got into a funk with her blah wardrobe and style. She decided that being a mom doesn't mean you have to live in sweats. You can feel confident, beautiful and look amazing while staying true to yourself.
Corina's blog turned into a business when she started selling printable outfit guides and courses to help moms be more stylish. Hey, sign this Mama up!
And congrats to Corina. She is looking stylish while heading to the bank with her blog business. She brings in over six-figures by helping moms feel good about their style.
Corina proves you don't have to be a fashion model or graduate from Parsons School of Design to help other people with their wardrobe. You just need to believe in yourself and have a desire to help others in a specific way.
9. Alexandra Jimenez - travelfashiongirl.com
While we are on the subject of fashion, Alexandra Jimenez has built her own online business by helping women pack appropriately for their world travels.
A world traveler herself, Alexandra launched TravelFashionGirl.com in 2012 to help other women travelers pack smart. The packing lists that she gives away on the website are pretty amazing. Each one is customized by destination and time of year. Such a brilliant idea!
The website makes money from advertising and through affiliate links for travel-friendly products such as luggage and clothing.
If you are the traveling type, you must check out TravelFashionGirl.com. Kudos to Alexandra for creating such an amazing resource for female travelers!
Rachel Harrison-Sund - rachelharrisonsund.com
I came across an interview with Rachel on the Side Hustle Nation podcast and started following her blog.
Rachel does something really different. She makes six-figures selling low-content books through Amazon's KDP platform. KDP is Amazon's print-on-demand platform.
So what on earth is low-content books? It's things like:
- journals
- diaries
- planners
- notebooks
- sketchbooks
They are books that don't require you to write 1000's of words or pages. You simply create journals with a fun cover, or a planner with some prompts and/or calendar pages and voila, you have a low-content book. Upload your design into the Amazon KDP platform, set your price, and then when someone buys your book, Amazon prints and ships it.
Super interesting, right? I created a couple journals and uploaded them after learning about this business (plus I'm a planner and journal junkie). I haven't sold any yet, but I haven't really worked the strategy yet. And there is a strategy to being successful.
That's where Rachel comes in. She makes six-figures selling low-content books, and now she is teaching others how to have success in self-publishing.
I love it when women find creative ways to make a good living!
What experience can you leverage?
Writing this article got my own creative juices flowing on how I can better leverage my bookkeeping skills into a more scalable business.
How can you leverage your own skills to build a lucrative online business? If you have the desire, you can make it happen by getting specific on your idea and who you want to help. Once you have that, it's rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.
I hope to be profiling your business soon!
